Topic: iPhone 6

Sources in Apple's supply chain are particularly bullish about iPhone sales to start 2015, leading investment firm Barclays Capital to say that its forecast of 54 million units for the current quarter is a "conservative" estimate.

After launching its "Shot on iPhone 6" ad campaign on Sunday, works from Apple's "World Gallery" are now showing up on billboards, static ad spaces and in magazines in far flung locales around the globe.

Apple on Sunday launched a home page takeover paying homage to the iPhone 6's camera with a series of striking photographs and videos taken by its users, including tips, tricks and apps used along the way.

Apple continues to expand the reach of its popular mobile payment system, with the Cupertino company rolling out support for cards from nearly two dozen additional financial institutions -- including major investment bank Morgan Stanley -- on Wednesday.

Apple's domination in the smartphone market compelled Canaccord Genuity to raise its price target on Apple stock to $145 on Monday, advising investors to buy in on the continued strength of the new iPhone 6, which decimated profits for competitors last quarter.

The strong initial success of Apple Pay, combined with the news that eBay will spin off PayPal, has led to expectations that PayPal could be a major acquisition target for mobile companies vying for users' wallets.

After years of failing to do much more than embarrass Samsung Electronics in legal battles over patent infringement, Apple has rapidly obliterated Samsung's mobile division profitability, rendering it as barrenly unprofitable as every other Android or Windows licensee with razor thin margins in the phone, PC and tablet market.

Apple revealed this week that the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus attracted more Android users than ever before. But new data suggests that the rate of Android switchers in the U.S. was steady last quarter, implying that international users are the ones who made the jump to iPhone in record numbers.

During its quarterly conference call on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the company had sold its one billionth iOS device in the December quarter, a device that will be kept at Cupertino for posterity.

Starting this weekend at the Waste Management Open, Apple Pay contactless payments on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available for select food and beverage concessions purchases at the PGA Tour.

Fresh research published on Wednesday shows Apple's latest iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets led to significant gains in important Asian markets over November, including South Korea, where local tech giant Samsung saw product sales contract.

RBC Capital Markets on Friday advised investors to stay long on Apple stock, as the investment firm sees multiple catalysts for the company in the near future, starting with the reporting of holiday iPhone sales.

Consumers in the United States will no longer face a backlog when purchasing an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus from Apple's online store, as supplies of the popular smartphones appear to have reached parity with demand nearly four months after their release.

The latest research from UBS has prompted the firm to advise investors that it believes Apple sold a massive 69 million iPhones in the just-concluded December quarter -- a sum that would obliterate the company's previous all-time record.